co+labo is an Architecture and Urban Design Laboratory at Keio University, Tokyo. It is based in the Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Systems Design Engineering
co+labo is involved in education, research and design-research in the fields of architecture and urban design.

26 March 2017

For the second year in a row, Darko Radović was invited to teach at Politecnico di Milano. After the fun of MIAW (Milano International Architecture Week 2016), He was asked to deliver, as a Visiting Professor at Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani - DAStU, an intensive Contemporary City Course, a full semester of workload for himself and the students within one month. Darko chose to bring a completely new version of his Theory and Practice of Urbanity (TPU, the original of which, dating back to 2007, is still accessible at the web pages of the University of Melbourne - here). The
overarching aim
of TPU2017 was to explore the
potential of cross-cultural comparisons, to critically address the issues arising
from cultural specificity and difference in and of urbanity, the (im)possibility
of translation and equivalence, bringing to one of the best European Universities some of the work conducted and developed at Keio, in co+labo radović.

The
Course, which unfolded at Leonardo da Vinci Campus from 15 March to 9 April 2017, consisted of two intertwining programmes: the lectures (delivered in a variety of formats by Darko and
his guests) and the “workshop” (a fieldwork component inspired by Debordean dérive and self-managed by the students), which included heuristic
drifts into concrete urban realities of Milano and follow-up discussions
and conceptual thinking about its likely and desirable urban futures.

Darko has introduced TPU through an overview (fully presented, with a reason, he says, in Typewriter font) by referring to

several important thinkers and key ideas which inform and shape his current research and, in particular, this particular lecture series. The opening six of his intellectual accomplices were (alphabetically organised) Roland Barthes, Bogdan Bogdanović, Guy Debord, Felix Guattari, François Jullian, Henri Lefebvre and Jean-Luc Nancy, serving the smördâsbord of ideas (below) to begin with.

The guest lecturers were asked to focus at the particular, freely choosing the theme which best introduces "their" city (for the majority, “My Milano”). The tenor
of their talks, which last until the very end of TPU 2017, ranged from purely autobiographical sketches to academic discussions, weaving the personal and anecdotal together with historical facts and theoretical concepts. The formats of delivery varied accordingly, from the strings of short cameos to standard academic presentations. This TPU
thread sought to contribute to the creation of a relaxed but, at the same time, firm, well-informed, creative and critical
atmosphere within the class.

The first of TPU 2017 guests was a "secret" one - Kazuyo Sejima, who is nowadays also a Professor at DAStU. Her unannounced presentation hinted at Darko's hope that TPU will keep on generating pleasant surprises. Sejima-san's talk about her projects included the new Bocconi University Campus (currently under construction) in Milano.

Her lecture was followed by Professor Davisi Boontharm (Meiji University and Keio) and the story of her city, Bangkok, by focusing at what makes the neighbourhood and at the importance of childhood memories in definition of both the community and the self. Within TPU, Davisi also delivered lectures on her fieldwork annotations "sketch and Script" method, latest research on urban requalification, and presented her current artwork, as it was being produced in Milano (see below).

The next guest speaker was Dr Mario Paris, also a TPU 2017 Teaching Assistant. Mario's Milano is a city of elastic boundaries, which tempts one to agree with Massimo Cacciari that "There is no city, only urban ways of life." Mario used the Atlante dei Classici Padani to bring in a series of themes which make "a real Milano", one which escapes the preconceived imagery of Italian centrality and urbanity, taking the audience along the edges of the ubiquitous non-place highways, all the way to the realities of one of the most recent mega shopping malls in the region.

Professor Gabriele Pasqui, a native of Milano and Director of DAStU, started with an "academic introduction", using maps to explain and problematise the past and present development projects, trends and dilemmas of Milano. He brought the audience into the actual fabric of the city by introducing nine houses and neighbourhoods in which he lived in his city.

Professor Antonio Longo, another true Milanese and renown urbanist, introduced the fine fabric of surrealist imaginary explorations of Milano, as see by various artists and other creative residents and visitors of this city (ranging from Mario Sironi and Vittorio da Sica, via Emir Kusturica to Savino and Savinio), overlaying them with ideas and plans about desirable development directions for the Lombardian capital (by the likes of Dino Buzzati, Giancarlo de Carlo, Boeri and, most recently Ferraresi et al., to some of which Professor Longo himself contributed).

The next in the TPU "My Milano" series was Professor Gabriele Masera, from Politecnico's ABC programme. Two years ago, Gabriele was a visiting professor at co+labo and Keio Yagami Campus. That enabled him to make interesting comparisons between urban cultures of Milano and Tokyo, leading to an erudite overview of complex development of Milano, from the earliest traces of Celtic settlements to the latest ideas about the future of the fascinating city. What emerged was the city much more marked by destruction and the Fenix-like moments of radical remaking and reinvention (even of its "natural" features). Precisely that defines a critical difference between the Lombardian capital and the majority of other Italian urban centres, the identities of which tend to be grounded in continuity and lasting of their physical structures.

On 31 March, TPU hosted two guest speakers. The first to speak was Professor Bertrando Bonfantini (a coordinator of the Contemporary City Programme at Politecnico) who introduced his Milano as a series of itineraries and narratives, and as a city which needs to further advance through introduction of the new "narrative infrastructures" for future urbanity. His focus at four major urban projects, Santa Giulia, Portillo Nord, City Life and Porta Nuova brought together the stories about development ambitions in the recent history of Milano, their various failures and successes, discrepancies between what was planned and designed, and what was realised - where accidents often brought gain, rather than any qualitative loss. Combining his expert views and well argued opinions, Bertrando emphasised how Porta Nuova project, for instance, with all of its controversies, is one of the projects with special potential to contribute to the broader public good, precisely because it stitches together the string of diverse parts of Milano in one, continuous narrative of pedestrian scale.

The second guest speaker was a young researcher from Barcelona, Gloria Serra Coch. She spoke about Barcelona of a native, an insider for whom living in the great Catalan capital, a must-visit tourist node of global fame, entails strong sense of living in a village, surrounded mainly by familiar places and faces. Over time, such personal, finely knit networks expand to form patchworks of lived fragments, never acquiring asense of systematic whole. Gloria ended her talk by tabling a number of profound questions, including the provocation which Barcelona itself so forcefully puts forward: have we "condemned functionalism to fast"? Or, in other words, isn't the Cerda's plan, a perfect example of the much maligned, top-down imposition of strong geometrical layout and order, an example of resilient urban structure which works extremely well, one which keeps on reinventing itself while, somehow, keeping that strong, established identity?!

Professor Marco Imperadori's Milano was the one of recent the EXPO 2015, and pavilions - Save the Children, Island Countries, UK and Japan - to conception, design and construction of which he and his team have variously contributed. Marco's special emphasis was on the legacy of that event, stressing how his interest is not only in history and present of Milano but equally for what is coming up, as Milano always was and it remains an "impermanent city, always changing."

Somewhat similar was the focus on Bologna, chosen by Luisa Bravo and Simone Garagnani, partners in life and partners in research. They presented some of their investigations in the city where they live. The lens of their research pulls together Luisa's urban design sensibility and Simone's passion for technology and complex representations of spatial quality. They are both closely associated with co+laboradović, and their presentation, of projects such as "Upgrading Bologna 2.0", "Le Bologne Possibili", "Mapping Urban Perception", closely resonated with some of Darko's own points within TPU.

Mina Akhavan, one of Teaching Assistants of TPU 2017, talked about her Teheran. In explaining "The Paradox City of Cities", Mina delved into some of the stark contrasts of the Iranian capital juxtapositions of the mountain and the flat Teheran, the Teheran of the rich and the Teheran of the poor, the city of Architecture and "the city of no-Architetcure", the city of green infrastructure and that of grey infrastructure, of Fordism and of post-Fordism, religion and irreligion, all together forming a puzzling and fascinating kaleidoscope, another kind of urbanity and otherness, into TPU 2017.

The final guest lecturer in TPU 2017 was Leonardo Zuccaro Marchi, who teaches urbanism at TU Delft. He made a special visit to Milano only to deliver his talk on "The Heart of the City - Milano Killing the Modern". Leonardo's erudite cross-referencing of concrete realities of Milano and some of the key events in the history of the Modern Movement, with special emphasis on CIAM 1951 and the concepts of the hollow core, social presence and continuity provided a fitting ending to the series of the rich guest programme of TPU.

TPU was designed to end, but not conclude. The aim of the course was to help the participants to take off, to elevate intellectual aspects of their discourse about the cities and to enhance the capacity to think critically and creatively. A major contribution to that and contribution to an ending which helps the course exceed itself was the exhibition by Davisi Boontharm, "Unfolding Navigli". Davisi presented several (un)foldable notebooks, with sketches from the reemerging canals of Milano, in which she beautifully combines the talent and sensibility of a mature artist with keen and experienced focus and logic of an urban researcher, to achieve a provocative and open-ended synthesis of both aesthetic and documentary quality, opening the spaces which she chose as of special significance in the city to new readings.

In order to further stress the non finitocharacter of TPU (first hinted upon in design of the limited-edition stamp) the very last session, held on Saturday 8 April 2017, was just another TPU "horizontal exhibition", a moment to step back and contemplate together the rich diversity of qualities of Milano, as seen by the TPU 2017 students. ... That was TPU 2017.

co+labo radović a success of co+labo Graduates at the Japanese student competitions One of the "secrets" behind the globally recognised, undeniable excellence of Japanese architecture seems to be in a very broad and carefully nurtured culture of architecture in this society. That includes a very rich tradition of design competitions for students at all levels of studies of architecture and urban design. The most important competitions are at the end of the year, when recent graduates offer their work to judgement by the prestigious juries at several highly respected events. Only taking part in those contests matters. Being shortlisted, commended or receiving an award there often translates into a clear hint to the future employers and watchers of the emerging talents, a sign that a particular young person might be bringing something special to the scene of Japanese design.

co+labo supports efforts of its students to compare and compete with their colleagues from other schools and universities in Japan. During the demanding process of preparation, exhibition, selection and jury discussions, all of the participants learn. So far, co+labo students had a fair share of recognition in those arenas of excellence, both nationally and internationally. But 2016 was, probably, the best year so far. The 2016 generation of co+labo SD Graduates (our new Masters students) Onishi Keitaro, Yamashita Shohei, Takasu Yukie, Kobayashi Daisuke, Mikogami Mayuko and Morimoto Mei all took part in those demanding competitions, coming back with an excellent success.

Keitaro Onishi won the most prestigious accolades, pictured with Yamashita Shohei (above) and some of their awards.

Onishi-san's work, a moment of glory at the award ceremony (above) and his and Yamashita-san's projects (below).

Project by Mayuko Mikogami (above) which, after winning the Best Keio SD Graduation Design Project Award in 2016, received high recognition by an external competition jury, and a subtle design sensibility of Morimoto-san (below).

co+labo radović in April, co+labo presents two new exhibitions and a research SymposiumIn April at the Keio University Hiyoshi Campus, co+laboradović will present two exhibitions and one Symposium. Keio Architecture exhibition, which is co-organised by the students of co+labo, Kishimoto Lab and Almazán Lab, will bring together and celebrate the best design and research-design achievements of the students of architecture and urban design at the Keio's Yagami Campus in 2016. Bruno Taut Exhibition brings back to Tokyo the exhibits from the exhibition which we have co+organised withIstututo Universitario di Architettura, Venezia in September 2016 - enriched by some new materials and video recordings from the Symposium held in Venice. The Exhibition will be accompanied by an international research Symposium.

If you are in Tokyo in the period 26 April - 5 May, please join us at the Raiosha Centre, Hiyoshi. While you are going to be able to find updates about these events at this blog, if you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact the organising committee by e-mail, by writing to co+labo Technical Secretary and PhD researcher Mr Sano Satoshi.